海底兩萬里 第275期 第21章 在陸地上的兩天(7)

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After crossing a pretty lush prairie, we arrived on the outskirts of a small wood, enlivened by the singing and soaring of a large number of birds.

穿過了一片相當廣大的草原，我們來到一座小樹林的邊緣，林中有許多禽鳥飛舞歌唱，顯得生氣洋溢。

Still, they're merely birds, Conseil said.

這還不過是一些禽鳥呢。康塞爾說。

But some are edible, the harpooner replied.

但里面也有可吃的呢!魚叉手回答。

Wrong, Ned my friend, Conseil answered, because I see only ordinary parrots here.

沒有，尼德好朋友，康塞爾回答，因為我看見那里僅有一些鸚鵝。

Conseil my friend, Ned replied in all seriousness, parrots are like pheasant to people with nothing else on their plates.

康塞爾好朋友，尼德·蘭嚴肅地回答，對沒有別的東西吃的人來說，鸚鵡就等于山雞。

And I might add, I said, that when these birds are properly cooked, they're at least worth a stab of the fork.

再說，我說，這種鳥烹調得好，也很值得動刀叉。

Indeed, under the dense foliage of this wood, a whole host of parrots fluttered from branch to branch, needing only the proper upbringing to speak human dialects. At present they were cackling in chorus with parakeets of every color, with solemn cockatoos that seemed to be pondering some philosophical problem, while bright red lories passed by like pieces of bunting borne on the breeze, in the midst of kalao parrots raucously on the wing, Papuan lories painted the subtlest shades of azure, and a whole variety of delightful winged creatures, none terribly edible.

正是這樣，在樹林的濃密樹葉底下，一大群鸚鵡在樹枝間飛來飛去，只要細心地教育它們，便可以說人類的語言了。目前它們只是陪著所有各種顏色的雌鸚鵝，嘰嘰喳喳說個不休：有神氣嚴肅的五彩鸚鵡，好像在思考些哲學問題；有大紅色的赤鸚鵡，在飛時作響聲的加羅西鸚鵝電間，好像一塊隨鳳飄蕩的紅紗；有染上最美的天藍色的巴布亞櫻鵝，以及各種各樣的美麗可愛的飛禽，但一般來看，都是屬于不可食用的一類。

However, one bird unique to these shores, which never passes beyond the boundaries of the Aru and Papuan Islands, was missing from this collection. But I was given a chance to marvel at it soon enough.

但是，這地方特產的一種鳥，它從不走過阿盧群島和巴布亞群島的邊界，現(xiàn)在在這一群禽鳥中我并沒有看到。命運暫時把這鳥保留起來，但不久我就能欣賞它了。

After crossing through a moderately dense thicket, we again found some plains obstructed by bushes. There I saw some magnificent birds soaring aloft, the arrangement of their long feathers causing them to head into the wind. Their undulating flight, the grace of their aerial curves, and the play of their colors allured and delighted the eye. I had no trouble identifying them.

穿過了一座不很濃密的叢林，我們又到了一片有許多樹叢堆垛著的平原。我看到了好些華麗的鳥飛在空中，它們身上很長的羽毛使它們一定要逆鳳才能飛行。它們的波狀起伏的飛行，它們在空中的優(yōu)美曲線，它們鮮艷奪目的色澤，吸引了和迷惑了人們的眼睛。我一點不困難就認出是它們來了。